QED

Seems to me what people are saying with regard to people with learning 
disabilities is that the content itself is what is hard to understand. 
Since I'm blind, I need to have content which is textual in nature. You can 
make a graphically rich site more accessible to me by labeling the graphics 
whith text. However, if you've got a complicated picture, such as a diagram 
of a complex integrated circuit or a painting by picaso, how can these 
images be made more understandable by me? You might say, "produce a 
raised-line drawing which I can feel," but maybe by their very nature these 
images are not understandable by me.
I see the Even a raised-line reproduction of a 3D image like a painting 
means nothing to me since I've been blind since birth and thus have no 
concept of perspective drawing.
WAI as a group whose goal is to help web users get the most out of the 
tools at their disposal. If their is something which these tools (the 
computer and its associated software etc) can do to massage content into a 
form more understandable to more users then this is good. If we are asking 
for this group to define rules/principles for content design which makes 
the content more understandable or usable (accessible), this may be outside 
of the WAI's goal.
Maybe not however! Can or should we make rules or guide lines having to do 
with content?

					Rich


On Tuesday, June 08, 1999 5:12 PM, Kynn Bartlett 
[SMTP:kynn-hwg@idyllmtn.com] wrote:
>
>
> At 01:19 PM 6/8/1999 , Sally Paveley wrote:
> >However eloquently you argue about semantics the fact remains that 
people
> >who have learning difficulties often have a problem with (accessing?)
> >information because they don't understand it. That is the nature of 
their
> >disability.  It may be interesting to pursue a philosophical arguement
> about
> >whether or not this should be so but what really matters is the 
principle
> >that people with learning difficulties, in common with all groups of
> people
> >who have a disability, have a right to have their needs considered when
> >information is being made available.  If you don't want to call that
> access
> >then use another word; 'a rose by any other name'?  When people with
> >learning difficulties talk about accessible information they mean
> >information presented in a way they can understand.
>
> How should this affect the design of a web site or the presentation
> of the content?
>
> You will find a very sympathetic audience when you argue that all
> people should have their needs considered; we are merely waiting for
> the follow-up that explains how to consider these needs.
>
> --
> Kynn Bartlett <kynn@hwg.org>
> President, Governing Board Member
> HTML Writers Guild <URL:http://www.hwg.org>
> Director, Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education Center
>   <URL:http://aware.hwg.org/>

Received on Thursday, 10 June 1999 14:35:26 UTC